Activity: A Lesson in Cooking with a Dash of Respect
Learning to appreciate, respect, and understand social diversity is just the beginning of a child's journey to become socially and culturally mature.
Materials:
Suggested ingredients for homemade vegetable soup:
- 2 large cans of diced tomatoes, chopped onions, corn, celery, salt, pepper. If desired, add meat like beef or chicken to make it even more tasty and filling! Be sure to keep sharp utensils away from small children by cutting up ingredients beforehand, or by buying pre-cut ingredients.
- utensils: pots, pans, soup ladle, bowls, spoons, and napkins
- aprons (oversized shirts works great), cup towel and pot holder
Directions:
Add tomatoes, carrots, onions, corn, celery, salt, pepper, and meat of choice into soup pot. Discuss how all of these colorful and diverse flavors work together to create a delicious and healthy soup. Encourage your child to think about how this mixture of ingredients compares to the mixture of cultures, making up communities around the world. Cook vegetables until tender, enjoy the soup and treasure this special time together!
Take It Further: Ask you child: If there were only onions in the soup, would the soup be as flavorful? How would our world be different if every person were exactly the same? Would it be a better or worse place to live? Explain that it's the diverse mixture of people, traditions, and cultures that "give flavor" to our world in such an interesting and wonderful way and this is why it is so important for everyone to appreciate and respect others different from themselves.
With a Group: Use this cooking activity to help children learn more about respect by encouraging them work together to make their own original recipe of soup. Guide children in taking turns while adding ingredients, stirring the pot, preparing the table, and cleaning up the kitchen. Encourage children to share perspectives and ideas about the importance of showing others respect, not only in the kitchen, but at home, school, and in public places.
